Monday, June 01, 2009

After successfully making bouncy meatballs from beef and pork, it was time to try with chicken. The recipe is basically the same.

For those who don't eat red meat you will be pleased to know that the chicken meatballs have just as much bounce and 'spring' but with a much softer texture. Handy to have in the freezer to add to that instant noodle meal anytime.

3. Remove the chicken paste from the food processor and put in a big bowl. Pour the liquid mix to the paste and stir well slowly until the liquid is absorbed into the paste (use either your hand or a fork).

4. For the taste test...microwave or boil a teaspoon of the paste. Season to taste with more salt or sugar.

5. Cover bowl with clingwrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

6. Boil a pot of water. Once the water has boiled, remove the pot from the heat.

7. Add pepper to the paste and stir to combine. Scoop the paste onto your wet hand. Push the paste through your thumb and 2nd finger by making a fist. (Best to refer to the video below for a visual). Use a wet spoon to scoop and drop it into the hot water. To prevent the paste from sticking to your hand and spoon, wet the spoon and hand with water.

8. Continue until the chicken balls form a layer in the water. Now turn on the heat but do not let it boil. Just simmer slowly without bubble....if not your chicken balls will not have 'bounce'. While cooking the chicken balls, any leftover paste should be kept in the freezer.

9. Fill a big basin with icy cold water. When the chicken balls starts to float, leave for a few more seconds. (Cut one in half to see if it is cook. The inside should not be pink). Scoop out and let it cool in the cold water.

10. After the chicken balls have cooled, use as required or freeze.

This is a 1 minute video of the whole process of making the beef balls which is exactly the same as making these chicken balls.Accompanying song : Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis

Note :After the meat balls have cooled (step 10), it is better to cook/boil the balls again before eating. Further boiling after this stage will not affect its bounciness.

TipSqueeze test : when the meatballs start floating (step 9), get one out of the hot water and give it a squeeze between the fingers. When it is ready it will be 'springy' between your fingers. If it hasn't got a good bounce yet, put it back into the water. Try another.

28 Comments:

hey ...i have been following your blog for quite a while. hehe... By the way , how do you make your soup that is so clear and i believe is taste good too !

Also, if you make dried noodles, what is the sauces you used?? I tried soya sauce, oyster sauce but result was not good. :( and I can't seems to find anywhere that have recipe for good sauce for either wonton mee or the clear broth you made.

The soup is actually the stock from boiling the chicken balls. When I have it with noodles, I add a little bit of chicken stock powder for a bit more flavour.

Our sauce when eating dry noodles is very simple. Recipe here. It taste just like the hawker kon loh meen. The key ingredient is the black soy sauce. Try to get the Yuen Chun brand. Makes a great difference to the taste of the mee.

I tried making chic balls today and I´m soo pleased to tell you that it´s a success! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and I didn´t know it´s so easy to make chic balls from scratch. My lil princess loves to eat fishballs but since I cannot get the right fish to make fishballs in Germany, the chic balls is a good alternative. Do you know if the normal mackerel fish (I cannot find Spanish mackerel here) can be used to make fishballs? After boiling the chic balls the 1st round, there were some scums floating on the water. So I threw the water away and boiled fresh one to cook the 2nd batch of chic balls. Was that necessary to change the water?

So glad your chic balls came out perfect. No need to change the water if there is scum. Just scoop out any scum but I have never needed to do that. The water will taste really good for making noodle soup later.

To be honest fish here is way more expensive than meat so have not really tried making fishballs. Can't help with the fish type - sorry. If you tell your lil princess that the chic balls are fish balls, will she believe you ? They almost look like fish balls ! lol

Alamak! I shouldn´t have poured away the water. Forgotten about saving it for soup stock later. Nevermind, next time shall remember that. Err....I will tell her it´s fish balls next time. Hehe. At this age (2), I can still get away with white lie :) Hey I´m really surprised that fishes are expensive at your end. I thought NZ is surrounded by sea and therefore seafood should be abundant and cheap.

dear, thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful recipes. I really fall in love with your blog. By the way, do have the recipes for bouncy and spongy fish ball, in here it's hard to find the nice fish ball. I am in saudi. thank you so much sinner